Easton police made simultaneous but unrelated drug raids this morning, including one targeting the Hoover Crips street gang out of Newark, Lt. Matthew Gerould said.

Both raids -- at 1505 Washington St. in Wilson Borough and 1429 Elm St. in Easton -- focused on crack cocaine, Gerould said.

Three people were taken into custody at the Washington Street address and one at the Elm Street location. A Ford Taurus was towed from Elm Street and police are applying for a search warrant to check its contents, Gerould said.

Those facing charges, Gerould said:Elm Street:

Stephenson Mc Leod, 30, taken into custody at the Elm Street house: possession of drug paraphernalia consistent with the packaging of crack cocaine. He will receive a summons and will be released.

Washington Street:

Second floor: Ervin B. Jackson, 24, will be charged with possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine. He will be arraigned later today, likely in front of District Judge Richard Yetter III.

First floor: Glenn Taromina, 27, possession of paraphernalia. He will receive a summons and will be released.

First floor: Patrick Gaber, 31, possession of paraphernalia. He will receive a summons and will be released.

Elm Street scene

Easton's Special Response Unit and Vice Unit served a search warrant on Elm Street.

The investigation is continuing into who is involved in drug dealing at that house, Gerould said. Police seized .25-caliber ammunition, Gerould said.

Police cleared the scene by 8:15.

Gerould said there was a likely connection between that address and a shots fired incident about a month ago in the 600 block of Ferry Street in Easton in which two guns were recovered. Two vehicles and the Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center were struck by bullets early in the morning of April 12, police said at the time. The investigation is continuing, Gerould said.

Washington Street scene

A second-floor apartment on Washington Street -- which is in a three-story white-sided twin home with single apartments on each floor -- was secured by the Pennsylvania State Police Special Emergency Response Team not long after 6 o'clock, Gerould said, the same time as the Elm Street raid. State police quickly left. Gerould said their part of the operation "went off without a hitch."

A small number of Easton police began to investigate in the second floor apartment, which was the target of the three- to four-month probe carried out city police and the Northampton County Drug Task Force, Gerould said. They served a search warrant there, Gerould said.

Jackson was taken into custody in that apartment and police found $700 worth of crack, Gerould said.

Police subsequently developed information that the first-floor apartment was involved in the drug operation, Gerould said. At that moment, most of Easton's more heavily armored officers were still on Elm Street.

First, officers came out to get a protective shield before going into the first floor apartment. Within a few minutes, police in protective gear, including Gerould, arrived from the Elm Street scene, some running into the Washington Street building and others covering the perimeter. An Easton K-9 was deployed as well.

Barricaded in basement

At that point, Taromina and Gaber, who were in the first floor apartment, had barricaded themselves in the basement, Gerould said.

After the men refused repeated requests to surrender, police went in after them, Gerould said. Gaber was injured by the K-9, was taken to an area hospital for treatment and was later released, Gerould said. The injuries were minor, Gerould said. Gaber had a bandage on his chest at the scene.

No police were injured in either operation, he said.

The investigation is continuing into the connection, if any, between the apartments, and if dealing was being done from the first floor apartment, Gerould said. The men taken into custody may have been involved in drug activity in the apartments but not necessarily living there, he said.

Enough evidence of narcotics activity was developed to get a search warrant for the first floor apartment and that was executed about 8 o'clock. The paraphernalia, which is consistent with packaging crack cocaine, was found in the basement room where the men were taken into custody, Gerould said. The scene was cleared by 8:30.

Gerould said Easton police have encountered Crips before. In this case, the gang connection is to the Washington Street residence and not necessarily to any one person in the place, he said. The rival Bloods -- both street gangs were formed decades ago, flourished in California and have spread nationwide -- appear to have a higher profile in the Easton area.

Wilson police Chief Steven Parkansky said borough police were on hand today because the Washington Street address is in the borough. But it was Easton's investigation, he said, the result of what Gerould said was Easton crime "bleeding over" into Wilson.

Resident has had enough

An Easton resident who has owned his home for 11 years about two blocks from the Washington Street scene said he was hoping to move out soon. His two children are going to private school outside the city and he said he hopes to move them nearer to school.

"It was really nice when we moved in," he said as he watched police investigating, praising them for doing their job. "As long as we've been here it's been a down slope and it's getting worse and worse."

He's worried about his children in a neighborhood that's become more and more drug involved, said the man, who declined to give his name.

"It's not safe for them to walk around with this stuff going on," he said. "We're trying to relocate."